Virginia Tech has declined to play in a bowl game this year, sources told Stadium. The Hokies had played in a bowl game in 27 consecutive seasons, the nation’s longest current active streak.
The Hokies are the latest team to opt out of playing in the postseason, joining Boston College, Pitt, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Kansas State. With the emotional and physical strain of competing this season during the COVID-19 pandemic, several teams have decided they would rather return home over the holidays instead of playing in what amounts to just another road game.
Because of this, there is a lot of uncertainty among bowl executives entering the last week of the season regarding how many remaining Power Five teams may turn down bowl bids. Will there actually be enough teams to fill all the bowls?
After Tuesday’s penultimate College Football Playoff rankings, the New Year’s 6 at-large teams are pretty much locked in. Florida, even with a loss to Alabama in the SEC title game, would remain in a New Year’s 6 bowl as an at-large selection, along with Texas A&M and Georgia.
After Monday’s cancelation of the Frisco Bowl – the 11th bowl cancelation this season – we’re down to 32 bowls. Here are my projections entering this weekend’s games. I’ll have my final projections late Saturday night/early Sunday morning before the College Football Playoff rankings is released on Sunday.
Some conference tie-ins listed below may – OK, likely will – change with certain bowls due to various reasons (remember, it’s 2020).
College Football Playoff
Championship – Jan. 11 (CFP semifinal winners)
Projection: Alabama vs. Clemson
Semifinals
Sugar Bowl – Jan. 1 (CFP semifinal)
Projection: Alabama (No. 1 seed) vs. Notre Dame (No. 4 seed)
Rose Bowl – Jan. 1 (CFP semifinal)
Projection: Clemson (No. 2 seed) vs. Ohio State (No. 3 seed)
New Year’s 6 Bowls
Orange Bowl – Jan. 2 (ACC vs. SEC/Big Ten)
Projection: North Carolina vs. Texas A&M
Fiesta Bowl – Jan. 2 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: USC vs. Indiana
Peach Bowl – Jan. 1 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: Georgia vs. Cincinnati*
Cotton Bowl – Dec. 30 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: Iowa State vs. Florida
Other Bowls
Gator Bowl – Jan. 2 (ACC vs. SEC)
Projection: NC State vs. Kentucky
Outback Bowl – Jan. 2 (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Projection: Iowa vs. Auburn
Birmingham Bowl – Jan. 1 (AAC vs. SEC)
Projection: UAB vs. San Jose State
Citrus Bowl – Jan. 1 (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Projection: Northwestern vs. Missouri
Arizona Bowl – Dec. 31 (MAC vs. Mountain West)
Projection: Ball State vs. Boise State
Armed Forces Bowl – Dec. 31 (SEC vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Mississippi State vs. Oregon
Liberty Bowl – Dec. 31 (Big 12 vs. SEC)
Projection: TCU vs. Arkansas
Texas Bowl – Dec. 31 (Big 12 vs. SEC)
Projection: Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss
Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Dec. 30 (ACC vs. Big Ten)
Projection: Wake Forest vs. Rutgers
Music City Bowl – Dec. 30 (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Projection: Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
Alamo Bowl – Dec. 29 (Big 12 vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Oklahoma vs. Washington
Cheez-It Bowl – Dec. 29 (ACC vs. Big 12)
Projection: Miami vs. Texas
Military Bowl – Dec. 28 (ACC vs. AAC)
Projection: Maryland vs. Tulsa
Cure Bowl – Dec. 26 (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Marshall vs. Coastal Carolina
First Responder Bowl – Dec. 26 (Big 12 vs. Group of 5)
Projection: Nebraska vs. UTSA
Gasparilla Bowl – Dec. 26 (ACC vs. SEC)
Projection: Liberty vs. South Carolina
Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Dec. 26 (Big Ten vs. Big 12)
Projection: Penn State vs. West Virginia
Independence Bowl – Dec. 26 (Army vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Army vs. Colorado
LendingTree Bowl – Dec. 26 (MAC/C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State
Camellia Bowl – Dec. 25 (MAC vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Buffalo vs. Louisiana
New Mexico Bowl – Dec. 24 (Mountain West vs. Group of 5)
Projection: Hawaii vs. Houston
**Montgomery Bowl – Dec. 23 (Group of 5)
Projection: Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic
New Orleans Bowl – Dec. 23 (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern
Boca Raton Bowl – Dec. 22 (ACC vs. AAC)
Projection: BYU vs. UCF
Idaho Potato Bowl – Dec. 22 (AAC vs. Mountain West)
Projection: Tulane vs. Nevada
Myrtle Beach Bowl – Dec. 21 (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: North Texas vs. Appalachian State
Bowls that have been canceled this year:
•Bahamas Bowl
•Fenway Bowl
•Frisco Bowl
•Hawaii Bowl
•Holiday Bowl
•Las Vegas Bowl
•Los Angeles Bowl
•Redbox Bowl
•Pinstripe Bowl
•Quick Lane Bowl
•Sun Bowl
Teams in bold have already officially accepted bid.
*The highest rated champion from the Group of Five conferences (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt) will be selected to play in either the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowl.
**Replacing Fenway Bowl for this season only.